Toronto's push to higher home prices leads other cities in April

Toronto and Calgary led the country in rising home prices last month, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The MLS Home Price Index stood at 154.7 in April, up 5.2 percentage points nationally from a year ago and up 1.18 points from March..

Toronto had the biggest year-to-year jump while Calgary led the country on a month-to-month basis.

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"Canadian home price gains are generally expected to moderate, but there are a few hot spots where prices are being fuelled by some strong housing market fundamentals," association president Wayne Moen said in a news release.

Toronto has a tight housing supply, the monthly price index found.

"Toronto has less than two months of supply compared to six months nationally, so it ranks among the tightest of Canadian housing markets," Mr. Moen said.

The MLS Home Price Index is compiled monthly by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

It's based on prices for one- and two-storey single family homes, townhouses and apartments in several key markets across Canada.

The overall index stood at 154.7 at the end of April. The index indicates that overall Canadian home prices tracked by CREA are up nearly 55 per cent since January 2005, when the index was at 100.

The Toronto component of the index was at 149.7 in April, up 1.42 points from March and up 7.85 points from the same month last year.

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The Calgary component was at 175.8, up 2.03 percentage points from March and up 4.02 points from last year.

The Vancouver component of the index was at 163.0, up 0.74 points from March and 3.69 points from April 2011 – a period when the city was experiencing unusually strong demand for multimillion-dollar properties.

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